I hit the trail today with 3 gels and a full bottle, ready to just go as far/fast as I felt like. Started up the Amphitheater Trail going a fairly slow pace. Caught up to some college students who for the 3rd time in 3 days (different groups), saw me coming and decided to challenge (all on my easy days). I'll admit that at first, they put in a good effort and I contemplated upping my pace to play their game, but none of the challengers lasted for more than a minute or two so I never had to up my tempo, all followed by them blowing up catostrophically. Funny stuff.
Made the summit of Green in 37:39 with a HR of 159. Although my legs felt much better than in days past and my HR was moderate, the ascent still felt a bit more labored than it should have for some reason. I really wanted to head over to Bear/SoBo, as it was overcast and cool, but opted instead to run W. Ridge to SuperFlag/Long Canyon and back down Gregory. As much as I wanted to run for a few more hours, I figured it was prudent to save up a bit for a higher quality effort tomorrow. Long Canyon was awesome, so lush and green, perfect singletrack and wildflowers galore today, purple, pink, yellow and white. I only run this trail a few times per year, but every time I do, I question why I do not run it much more often. I stopped many times just to drink it all in and enjoyed just cruising along enjoying the day and the scenery.
Long has become my favorite route up and down.
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